Careless Fun

Hey Ladynay.   It was so cool seeing your comment on my last entry which seemed so long ago.    How you know those were my legs?    Ok fine...they were.     My legs are meaty but the angle of my camera made them look smaller....*LOL*.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hemingway I got back from San Diego last week and overall enjoyed myself.   I stayed in Jose's condo in a comfortable aerobed that he bought for guests.    I got to see the town, visit a few casinos, and some bars, including the Redwing Bar & Grill I mentioned.   I tore the house down with my rendition of Careless Whisper.    It was really sad having to go back home.   I definitely want to go back again.

Here are a few pic highlights.

San Diego Bound

My friend Jose in December got a job offer in San Diego to work at a pharmaceutical company at director of their Human Resources department.    It's a six month job assignment that is perfect since he gets to spend his winter away from frigid Chicago.

Those benefits weren't immediately realized though as Chicago has had unseasonably warm weather for most of December and part of January.   Of course that changed last week with the Midwest's first batch of wintry mayhem.   And today we're expected to get anywhere from 3 to 5 inches.

So Jose told me that I could come visit him anytime while he's up there.    So I took him up on the offer and will be flying there on Valentine's day.    With my remote job, I can work from anywhere as long as I have an ethernet connection.    So I'll be working from his apartment in San Diego on Wednesday and Thursday.    Then I took off Friday and Monday.   So the great thing about that is that I'll have all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to enjoy the sites of San Diego.   I fly back to Chicago Monday early afternoon.



So I need to get an itinerary ready for things to do.    I'm sure I'll want to hit a beach while I'm there to check out the hot guys.   There is this one beach that has a gay section called Black's Beaches.    It sounds like a bit of a hike to get there though, based on one reviewer's comments:

"Once you arrive at the Torrey Pines gliderport, you've reached the main (intermediate) trail. It's the easiest to hike down (none are easy to hike up, so be sure you're prepared for a workout on the way back), but it also drops you in the middle of the straight section of Blacks Beach. Like many nude beaches, mostly nude men who aren't in shape run around naked, but a few hot guys (and even fewer women) can be seen as well. Many more guys are found in the gay section about a half mile north. It can be reached directly from the advanced trail, which is merely a dirt path at the north end of the parking lot north of the gliderport. This trail is even harder to climb back up, without the assistance of ropes, railroad tie steps, etc. that are found on the main trail."


But it might be worth it to get to the promised land.   And actually Jose lives not far from there.   Depending on his location, we might even be able to walk there.

Of course there's the gay bars.   Jose and I have pretty diverse tastes in guys.    He likes them young and twinky while I like them beefy and bearish.    So coming up with a bar that we both agree to might be a challenge.   But probably not.    With such bar names as The Brass Rail, Pecs, Urban Moe's, and Bourbon Street (a shout out to New Orleans no doubt), hopefully there'll be something between the different bars for both us to enjoy.    I especially wouldn't mind hitting Redwing Bar & Grill as they have a karaoke bar for me to get my sing on.

And then there's the San Diego Zoo, which apparently have sleepovers where you can spend the night there.   Not sure I'd want to but that's an interesting option.

I can't forget about the casinos either since I'm such a casino whore.   There's Pechanga Resort, Harrah's Rincon, Barona's, and Viejas.    Assuming Jose tags along, he'd want to check out some of the steakhouses that are housed there.   The websites of all the main casinos make their restaurants sound so good.

So much other things to do.   There's different parks like Balboa and shopping centers to visit.   I could even go parasailing.   I'm definitely looking forward to my trip and to get away from the crazy weather in Chicago.

Commit Yourself

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

One good thing about the new year is that you can get away with saying Happy New Year even if it's a week or two past the 1st.    Other holidays you pretty much only have that day and then folks look at you weird if you say Happy Thanksgiving in March.

I can't believe another year is upon us.    I rung in the New Year with a hot hookup.   So I guess that means I'll end the year with a hot hookup.   *LOL*.   Of course I do want more.   But I'm getting to the point now that I feel like I'm pretty much going to be single for my remaining time on Earth.   And if I am so be it.    I still would love to have a child even if it means raising him or her alone.   I just have to figure out how to go about doing it.

I was surprised to see my ex Rock's number show up on my caller ID a few weeks back.   I decided not to answer hoping he would leave a message.    But he didn't.    So it's almost like he's putting the burden on me to commit myself to call him since he didn't commit himself to leave a message.   I get he may be afraid to leave a message for risk that I don't call him back anyway but if he's sincerely trying to get in contact, he shouldn't be afraid to put himself out there.   I mean, commit himself.   Take a freaking risk.   While I don't think we would get back together, I would be fine with truly being friends with him.    He did the exact same thing almost a year ago with the random call and no message.    He could've been drunk dialing me for all I know.

I had a good visit with the family over the holiday.   My Dad was my Secret Santa and wound up giving me $100.   With everything he's gone through health wise this past year and still today, I was understanding.   Plus who couldn't use the money (though I blew most of it at a casino...bad boy I know...*LOL*).    It makes for some interesting dynamics adding my sisters' boyfriend and fiance to the Secret Santa mix.    Tasha's boyfriend had my Dad's name and wound up getting him some DVDs on train travel.   His reasoning given was that he recalled my Dad talking about wishing he could travel more and how he enjoys traveling by train, hence his gift.    While my Dad wound up not being too crazy about the DVDs (he said it was literally a film of a camera on a train looking out the window with no narration whatsoever and there were 10 in the set), the thought process behind the gift was cool.    My younger sister Trina's fiance got lucky and had Trina's name so he got her some boots likely from where they both work.    But I can imagine the interesting dynamics if he had to get a gift for my Mom, who to this day is not fond of him.     Or even if my Mom had to get a gift for him.  

But it was me who wound up choosing my younger sister's fiance's name for the second year in a row.   In talking with Trina last year, she mentioned his love for pool.    So inspired by that I thought I would get him a personalized plaque with his name on it establishing a room in his house as his pool area.    I found a company online that I thought would be able to send the gift in time.    They mentioned the 13th of December being the drop dead date when personalized gifts could be guaranteed for a December 23rd delivery.  

Since I knew on the 23rd I would be in Detroit, I decided to have the shipping address be my parent's house.    The company promised once the personalized gift was done, they would send me a tracking number so I can track the package.   It was getting close to the 22nd and I never got a tracking number.   I wanted to call them but it was the morning of my fun train ride to Detroit so I didn't get to contact them till the 23rd.   I called their main number during their so-called business hours and nobody picked up, claiming their associates were busy with other calls, which wasn't true because it kept taking me to their voicemail.   I sent a couple emails with no response either.

Fearing the worst I decided I needed to run to the mall and get a gift.   But only thing I really didn't know what to get.   But fate directed me to JCPenney's at Oakland Mall and I saw that they had a mini-pool table about the length and width of a large size briefcase on sale for 50% off.   I immediately grabbed it and he seemed to like it, of course telling me that I must've talked to Trina.    I wanted to say that I was clairvoyant and just knew but I copped to getting the idea from her.

Luckily I finally heard back from the company on the 27th.   They blamed the vendor for not getting the information for the plaque so effectively not working on it.    So they gave me the option to either have the vendor go ahead with the order or give me a refund.   I opted for the refund.

So gifts aside I did the usual errand running for my parents.    Took my Dad to his weekly blood checkup and to get his new bifocals.    I took my Mom grocery shopping and hitting her favorite spots of CVS and Walgreen's.  

I got to hang with Eugene for a couple hours at the local coffee spot shooting the breeze as well.   He himself had some family drama that he was getting away from.   His younger sister lost her job due to the principal holding a grudge against her that started when she made a complaint about the conditions of her classroom.   But he's hopeful that his sister will find something since she was teaching technology at her old job.  His oldest sister in the meantime had a nervous breakdown.   She was stressed out from losing her job a year back and feeling pressure from everyone.   Eugene himself has found a new teaching job at a different university in Boston after years of dealing with not even having his own office like the rest of the faculty and the bad politics in his department.    It was a bit of a stressful time for him in general.

I even had time to sneak out for a date with a hot older guy (he's 55) from Windsor for lunch at this place called Anita's Kitchen.    He crossed the border to Detroit since I didn't have my passport with me.   Not that I would have time to cross to Windsor even if I did.     He told me he has three kids from a previous marriage all grown, the youngest one living in Amsterdam while on some school study program.   He himself has his own private law firm.    We ended the date with a steamy kiss standing by his car.    It was a bit surreal since we weren't in a gay part of Detroit (I'm not even familiar where that is.).   But he went for it and I didn't push back.   I even reached over for seconds and thirds.   Years ago I would've freaked out on who saw me.   I've progressed somewhat.   So we agreed that I would have to make plans to visit him in Windsor.   So I'll definitely have to do that.

Tasha also invited me to hang out with her for a bit.   I went to her house after my date (and after picking up a few items for my Mom and Dad).   I was greeted by her dogs, well one of them was ready to attack but she's a cute short dog so she can't do much damage, and her boyfriend who was at the house.   She wanted to take me out for a late lunch but I was so full from eating at Anita's Kitchen earlier from my date that I really didn't want to eat.   But since she was hungry we decided on the local Olive Garden.   So we were just talking about general stuff, nothing really significant that I could remember.   We both agreed that somehow we'd have to work on finding somewhere smaller for our parents to live.    For the next few months anyway, we would lose our biggest advocate for the fight, my younger sis Trina.    Her focus is on making plans for her wedding in May.    It'll be interesting to see more of his side of the family since ours is so small.

So all in all it was a good trip.   Coming back to Chicago was a different story.

Disappearing Acts

Shalamar - Disappearing Act



Verse 1:
I never shoulda let you in my heart and that's a fact
Cause you gave me your love followed by a disappearing act
An illusion of love
That's all you were right from the start
Those promises in the dark 
Don't matter if you were just playing
Your magic touch really knocked me out
But like Houdini you were gone when I came around
Oh baby!

Verse 2:
I never shoulda let you in my heart and that's a fact 
Cause you gave me your love followed by a disappearing act
I got myself to blame 
I should know enough to come in out of the rain
You led me to believe that our need for love was one and the same
Hook, line, and sinker I bought your act
You had me too involved before I knew all the facts
Your words they left me mesmerized
You fed me lies and I swallowed every line
Oh baby!

Refrain:
I never shoulda let you in my heart and that's a fact
Cause you gave me your love followed by a disappearing act
I gotta find the part of my soul that you attract
What keeps me around is trying to solve your disappearing act

Bridge:
First your love puts my head in the clouds
Once you're sure that my life is in a tailspin
Then you're gone like the wind (te hee yeah!)

(Disappearing Act!) - repeat 5 times

Bridge 2:
Hook, line, and sinker I bought your act
You had me too involved before I knew all the facts
Your words they left me mesmerized
You fed me lies and I swallowed every line

Refrain 2:
I never shoulda let you in my heart and that's a fact
Cause you gave me your love followed by a disappearing act

Ad libs:
Yes you did
(Disappearing Act!) 
But that's alright uh-huh
But you're gone like the wind
(Disappearing Act!) 
(Disappearing Act!) 
I gotta find the part of my soul that you attract
What keeps me around is trying to solve your disappearing act
I never shoulda let you in my heart and that's a fact
Cause you gave me your love followed by a disappearing act
Cause you're gone
Gone like the wind
Gone like the wind

(Disappearing Act!) - repeat till fade

Why is it when it comes time to pay the piper the guy always disappears.    It isn't a new phenomenon for me.    How it goes is you chat with a guy and you think things are going well.   So inevitably you set up a date for meeting.   But then when you try to find the guy to firm up on plans, he's nowhere to be found.    It seems to be happening to me a lot lately.    It's annoying to say the least.

I wish men would grow up already.   But then again there's that whole grass is always greener on the other side equation in play.   While a guy may promise one person to meet he may really want to meet another.   I guess that's why you can't take anything a guy says seriously.

And what's worse you can't be angry about it because you really don't know the person.   Confront them and they will say that you're being too dramatic and that outburst will give them  reason to tell you 'have a nice life'.    And that is exactly what they want.   To put the blame on you even though they are the ones that are in the wrong.

I'm so sick of the bull.    But not much you can do.

Something Old

So hope you guys enjoyed reading that last entry.   I unfortunately had the pleasure of visiting a dud restroom at a banquet hall last night that if this atrocity was at a casino would've been rated quite lowly by the "Straightflush" experts.    The urinals were three tiny units all close together for maximum penis viewing, which in my case might've been pleasurable depending on the guy behind the penis.  Rimshot.  (HA!)    To access the urinals you had to get around the giant sinks.   I wish going to the urinal was all I had to do.   I sadly was shooting for a different number and there was only one toilet in the bathroom.   It wasn't occupied but it had some lovely drop deposits from previous visitors.   I grimaced as I spent ten minutes wiping and putting at least 10 layers of toilet paper on the seat.    In the meantime I heard guys coming in some wanting to hit the toilet.   To make things less pleasant, I was courtesy flushing away, which of course meant my ass was exposed to the nasty water.   The dryer for the hands was next to the door for the stall which made for more awkward moments for me as I was bombing away.   It wasn't a pleasant experience at all.   I shouldn't have drank that 7-Up or partake in all the tasty desserts.  

E final ratings:
Number #1 overall  - 3 stars
Number #2 overall  - 2 stars (only cause at least there wasn't crap in the toilet)

Okay...now that I got that out of the way.

Sally invited me as a guest to her holiday party at the earlier mentioned banquet hall.   It was interesting seeing her co-workers in various states of dress.   A lot of the women really dolled it up and the guys for the most part were appreciative.   The men in the meantime ranged from wearing pimp wear to business casual.

There were a few pieces of eye candy for me but this one bearish type guy sitting in the next table caught my eye.   He didn't know I was alive of course.   Sally caught me staring at him and told me he was a loser.   I told her I would only be interested in a quick romp Hemingway.   Turns out he's a manager that works in her department that also moonlights as a bouncer at some straight bar and is actually straight.    I noticed how he walked by where Sally and I were sitting three different times without saying anything to Sally.    In my dreams he was checking me out on the side.    Hopefully he didn't follow me in the bathroom since he would've heard more than he was bargained for.   *LOL*....sorry I went there again.

Hemingway they say that if you don't learn from history that you're doomed to repeat it.    They also say that life is too short and to live each day like it's your last.    I always wonder who the elusive 'they' is.    Also is the same 'theys' that coined each phrase.    Guess we'll never know.    But that doesn't stop the things that happen in our lives.

So I'm logging onto one of my "social networking sites" last Friday night.    No date for me par the course and unfortunately Ryan turned out to be yet another dud.    I guess he wasn't comfortable outside the virtual confines of texting.    So I'm just half looking at profiles when I get an email from a blast from the past.   Winifred who I first chatted with in 2005 saw me and shot me an email.  

He remembered my face but not quite my name.   I remembered his (of course).   I had to recall what happened back then.   Aside from my entries where I was juggling him with another a-hole, we did meet three separate times.   The last one I recalled went nowhere when I wanted to get to know him more but he was looking for more of a quick hit.   Which actually we never did (amazingingly...*LOL*).   To clarify we didn't go all the way.

So of course he doesn't remember why we lost contact but he told me that we should keep in touch.   I told him sure.   I'm sure it'll go the way of all my other encounters with guys.   But one can never tell.

Flush Time

I'm going through a blog dry spell again.   It's not uncommon for me if you've been a fan of my previous blog.   In the meantime here's an interesting blog rating various restroom facilities across various casinos, appropriately called The Straight Flush.    Some of the pics captured were shocking.

Anyway peruse at your own risk while I snap myself out of my spell.

Virtual Comfort

Eugene was telling me about a guy that he has been emailing back and forth with from one of his social networking sites.   They seemed to be getting along well.   So they exchanged numbers.    Then they began texting.    After a few days of texting back and forth, Eugene sent a message saying that they should actually talk on the phone sometime.    He didn't get a text response to that suggestion.

The next day Eugene decides to call anyway.   The guy doesn't answer.

I admit there is a comfort level in using technology as a buffer in communication.   I'm guilty of doing that as well, especially if I'm not sure I want to take things further with a particular guy.    Also there is the fear that an actual conversation may not last as long talking as it does texting.     And then the other guy would lose interest completely.

Eugene raised the possibility that maybe the guy didn't want to talk on the phone because he wasn't truthful about some aspect of his life.    Maybe he's seeing someone and can't talk.    Maybe he's a she.   *LOL*

Ryan and I are at a similar virtual impasse.   We've been texting for close to a week though I've noticed he's been slowing down his responses to my texts.   I suppose there's only so much texting one can do.  I realize too that realistically since we're not at the commitment level, I can't expect us to keep texting at the rate we were texting.    We both had our separate lives before the text fest began and of course we still do.

With that said I'm ready to take our "budding acquaintanceship" (I guess that's a word...*LOL*) to the voice level.    I'm not sure if he is ready for that but someone has to make the move.    It might as well be me.   I am nervous though due to the reasons previously mentioned.    But hopefully my fears will be unfounded and we will have a decent phone conversation, assuming he answers.   Ahhh that's the rub.   At least I hope he has voicemail set up so I can hear what he sounds like.

As for Eugene he sent a text to his perspective guy the next day and of course he texted back later.   I guess some folks are more comfortable living in the virtual world.